Few Indian students back home but stranded ones in panic mode
LUCKNOW : With Russia and Ukraine going into a full-blown battle, Indian students in Ukraine are a terrified lot. While a few lucky ones have managed to return home safely, several others are still stranded in Ukraine.
Amulya Yaduvanshi, a thirdyear MBBS student in the National Pirogov Memorial Medical University, Vinnytsya in Ukraine packed her bags to return to India and several other students from Uttar Pradesh made similar preparations. But flights posed a problem.
“We have stocked food for 7 days and our return tickets are booked. What we fear is availability of flights for India,” said Amulya.
A resident of Lucknow, she told over the telephone (at around 12.20 Ukraine time and 3.30 IST), “Ten students from our hostel who had tickets for 6 am today could not leave Ukraine as all flights are cancelled for now.”
The latest advisory to people in Ukraine that was received by Amulya also says, “The present situation in Ukraine is highly uncertain. Please maintain calm and remain safe wherever you are, be it in your homes, hostels, accommodations or in transit. All those who are travelling towards Kyiv are advised to return temporarily.”
Amulya is putting up with other Indian students, including Anshu Chaurasia, Anjali Chaurasia, Sheha and Isha in the same building after classes were suspended. The students have kept their parents informed about possible cyber attack that may snap their connectivity so that in case it happens the parents may not worry.
Akhil, who is a resident of Lucknow’s Alambagh area, said at least 10 other students from Lucknow were in the same university and over 25 from across Uttar Pradesh.
“We are in touch with the embassy officials and have emergency numbers. We hope to get back home soon. We came to know about blasts some 20 km away but at our place, which is in the central part of the country, it seems safe now. We have been given an emergency helpline number too from the ministry of external affairs in Ukraine,” said Amulya, who has her return ticket booked for March 3 and hopes flights will resume by then.
However, Lucknowite Raksha Sachan was fortunate to be able to return home safely.
“We made numerous efforts to fly our daughter back to India because of the uncertain conditions in Ukraine. I booked the ticket a week back on February,” said AK Sachan, father of Raksha, a second-year medical student at the Lviv National Medical University, Lviv. She safely reached home on Wednesday in a Fly Dubai flight.
Her father said he booked her ticket as soon as the government issued an advisory, asking the students to leave the country at the earliest. Raksha completed her class 12 in 2019 from Delhi Public School, Eldeco.
There were no problems in the city she resided in, but recently, there was a hike in the prices of items of daily use, she said. “A lot of Indians students are stuck in Ukraine, including some Lucknowites. Their flights have been delayed and they’re stranded,” said AK Sachan.
After Russia launched a military offensive against Ukraine, the Indian embassy in Kyiv issued a new advisory for the Indian citizens to ‘’stay calm and safe”.
Most Indian students are staying on the same campus and are in touch with families via social media platform. Some students have released videos seeking help and protection.
A video of two UP boys who got stuck and were seeking help from the government surfaced on social media. Kamal Singh, a resident of Varanasi and Faisal Khan of Hapur also appealed to the Government of India for help by sharing a video.